An implantable stimulator is used to treat a variety of medical disorders by providing electrical stimulation pulses via one or more electrodes placed at a desired stimulation site within a patient. The electrodes are typically disposed on one or more leads that are coupled to the implantable stimulator.
In some configurations, the portion of the leads with the electrodes disposed thereon are implanted at the desired stimulation site while the stimulator is implanted at a more surgically convenient location (e.g., a subcutaneous pocket formed within the torso of a patient). The one or more leads may then be tunneled from the stimulation site to the implant site and coupled to the implanted stimulator.
In many instances, a plurality of leads is used in conjunction with an implantable stimulator. Each lead may have a number of electrodes disposed thereon. For example, an exemplary configuration includes three leads each with eight electrodes disposed thereon. In this manner, electrical stimulation may be applied by the stimulator to the stimulation site via one or more of twenty-four different electrodes.
However it is often difficult for physicians to differentiate between multiple leads after they have been tunneled from the stimulation site to the implanted stimulator. Some physicians have been known to tie one more sutures around one or more of the leads to differentiate each lead from the others. However, such a solution is cumbersome, time consuming, and prone to errors.